Gezary Matuda

Gezary Matuda is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt under the legendary Ricardo Libório and a top competitor of her generation, known for having one of the most exciting styles of fighting in the women’s divisions, a style that earned her numerous titles, such as the pan american and world championships in the black belt category.

Gezary Matuda Jiu Jitsu

Full Name: Gezary Matuda Kubis Bandeira

Nickname: Gezary is often called ‘Ge’, a nickname that has followed her since childhood which is short for Gezary.

Gezary Matuda Biography

Gezary Matuda Bandeira was born on the 12th of July, 1983 in Curitiba, state of Paraná – Brazil. Her martial arts life started at the age of 15 through Capoeira. Two years later she added Muay Thai to her training, influenced by her brother who was a thai-boxer at the time. Gezary spent many years training, and it was through her Muay Thai coach that she found Jiu Jitsu in 2004. Her striking coach believed she should add some ground work to her training regime, as a result Matuda became a student of BJJ coach, Carlos ‘Penão’ Alexandre Conceição (a black belt under Carlson Gracie).

Although Gezary had always requested her Thai Boxing coach to fight, she never managed to get her time on the ring competitively. In Jiu Jitsu, on the other hand, she started competing with less then a month of training. This competitive facet of BJJ really captivated Gezary who became more and more a Jiu Jitsu fan, relegating the striking game.

‘Penão’ awarded Gezary all her belts from white to purple, after which Matuda moved to the United States with her husband. There she sought out coach Ricardo Liborio and his American Top Team. It was there that Gezary earned her brown and later her black belt (on July 2012) after winning the world championship.

When interviewed for this piece, Gezary left a message: “Thank you to BJJ Heroes, always believe in your dreams and never let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do! Believe it and it will happen! Osu”.